England crashed out of Euro 2004 after they were defeated on penalties by hosts Portugal. There were a few tepid moments in the match but it had a thrilling climax. What high drama.
Owen, under fire for his uninspiring form in the qualifying stages, scored his first goal of the tournament in the third minute. The Liverpool man intercepted a poor, poor back header by Costinha and made a difficult 180 degree turn (almost losing his balance in the process) to hook the ball past Ricardo and into the back of the net.
Boy wonder Rooney was taken off in the 27th minute after breaking his metatarsal — the same bone both Beckham and Gary Neville broke before World Cup 2002. If Marvel did What If … comics for football matches, you can bet What If Rooney Hadn’t Gone Off Injured would be a best-seller in England.
The score remained the same until half-time and England started the second-half content to sit on their slim lead. Portugal launched attack after attack but England managed to repulse all attempts. Cole, who had an outstanding match at left-back, made the skillful Ronaldo look very ordinary indeed. The only satisfaction the young United winger got was when he accidentally kicked the Arsenal man in the head. The camera caught Ronaldo laughing following the foul and I’m thinking there’ll be payback come next season.
Erikkson replaced Scholes with defensive midfielder Phil Neville and later replaced Gerrard with Hargreaves as England continued to draw back into their shell tortoise-style but it was the Portuguese substitution sandwiched between the two English ones that drew all the gasps. Portugal coach Scolari, the Brazilian who had won the World Cup for his native country, substituted Figo in the 75th minute. It shouldn’t have been a stunning decision — Big Phil had done the same thing in previous matches after all — but it was and all the more so because of the choice of substitute. Postiga is frequently mocked in England for his poor showing at club level and you could see the dismay in the faces of the Portuguese fans when the substitution was made. As it turns out, it would go down as one of the pivotal decisions of the match. Scolari’s first substitute, Simao, crossed for the unmarked Postiga to score with seven minutes remaining in the match. Zero to hero.
It looked like the match would go to extra-time but there was still drama before the end of regulation time. Campbell headed the ball into the net in the 90th minute but the goal was controversially ruled illegal. I couldn’t see why at first but perhaps the ref thought Terry had obstructed the keeper. The English media thought otherwise and are railing against the man in black for costing England the match.
The silver goal rule was in effect in this tournament but there weren’t any goals in the first period of extra-time. Scolari’s third substitute, Rui Costa, fired home a screamer to give Portugal the lead with 10 minutes remaining. It had match-winner written all over it but Lampard had other ideas. The England midfielder reacted swiftly to Terry’s knock-down of a Beckham corner to equalise.
On to penalties and more drama.
Beckham slipped and ballooned his attempt. The England captain, underwhelming throughout the tournament, stared hard at the ground surounding the penalty spot and Rui Costa did the same when he missed his own attempt. Never has a piece of dirt achieved such notoriety. It’s funny how the other players managed to net their attempts, though. Special mention has to be made of Postiga’s attempt; it was the cheekiest of weak chips and the ball barely had the momentum to cross the goal line. Vassell displayed no such confidence with his own attempt and sank to his knees when he saw his shot saved by Ricardo. The Portuguese keeper was so fired up he took Portugal’s next penalty and he won the host nation a place in the semi-finals when he beat his English counterpart.
And so Beckham returns to what he does best: hawking Pepsi.
